Enter the Unown
by Jirachi the Legend
Summary: Misty's disappeared and we all know there's only one person who can save the day. But when Ash is thrown right into the middle of this strange adventure, will Misty be the only one who needs saving? AAMLish
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Why'd you call, Ash?" Misty asked, brushing a strand of orange hair from her eyes casually.

"I, um, just to say 'hi!'" Ash grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, well, 'hi'," Misty replied sarcastically, amused by the look on her best friend's face.

In reality, she loved his calls, relied on them, but she couldn't let him know that. Hearing his voice was a reminder of the happiest days of her life, when she was free to travel, to follow whichever dream she chose. Now she was tied down again, and worst of all, she was alone.

"So, where are you now, Mr. Pokemon Master?"

Ash chuckled, "In Mossdeep City, you'd like it here, it's an island and there are heaps of Water Pokemon!"

She smiled, "Sounds great. So, how's Brock, and er, May and Max?"

"They're good," Ash said slowly, drumming his fingers on the edge of a table in front of him. "May just won another contest actually. She's come a long way since she first started training,"

"Oh, that's great," Misty said a little too chirpily, running a hand through her bright orange hair.

"Yeah, so-" Ash paused, a rumbling sound could be heard from somewhere close by. "Um, do you hear that?"

"Yeah…wha- what's going on?" Misty cried as the ground beneath her feet began to tremble. She dropped the phone.

"Misty? Hello?" Ash cried, his voice slowly fading as the power went out in Cerulean Gym. "Misty!" he yelled through the phone. She didn't answer. A bright flash of light lit up the video screen before it mysteriously went blank.

Ash stood surprised for a few seconds. "Probably just a blackout in Cerulean..." He said to himself as he hung up the phone, but he couldn't help feeling that something strange was going on.

"Ash, what are you doing? Come on, dinner's ready!" Brock interrupted his thoughts as he called from the back of the Mossdeep Pokemon Center.

"Oh, coming!" Ash called, taking a glance back at the video phone. The blank screen glared eerily back at him. Something was amiss in Cerulean.

-x-


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Ash walked toward the Gym cautiously. He had not heard from Misty since that fateful night one week ago. She had not been answering his calls and hadn't replied to his emails. It was fair to say that Ash Ketchum was worried.

Now, Ash was not usually the person to worry. Even in Gym Battles and at the Pokemon League he always seemed calm and cool and ready for anything. When Ash Ketchum was worried, there was something wrong. Brock, May and Max knew this well, and after Ash had explained about the strange phone call and the fact that he hadn't heard from Misty since, his friends had been only too willing to travel to Cerulean City to find out what was going on.

They now stood in front of the Cerulean City Gym. From the outside, everything seemed normal. Ash scratched the back of his head, he was not only terrified that Misty was in trouble, but also scared that she wasn't. His friends wouldn't have been too happy about the four day journey to Cerulean just on Ash's gut instinct if everything was perfectly fine.

Ash noted that the door of the gym was unlocked as he pulled down the handle roughly. It was dark inside, despite the fact that it was mid-afternoon. The eerie blackness unsettled him as he took the first steps inside.

Ash flicked a few light switches on the wall, but none of them seemed to be working.

The gym was silent as Ash's worst fears were realised. He was no longer scared of the embarrassment he'd face if Misty was fine, there seemed to be almost no chance of that. The Gym pool looked murky and the floors were dirty in the dim light. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling and it seemed like the no one had set foot inside for days. Most of all, the Gym was missing Misty's vivacious spirit. Brock and Max followed Ash in, dragging the spooked May behind them.

They scanned the desolate Gym in shocked awe.

"Misty!" Ash shouted, his voice echoed throughout the hollow gym dissonantly.

May yelped as she hugged Pikachu closer to herself. She had insisted on carrying the small yellow mouse for her own protection.

"Pikachupi?" Pikachu cried sadly as Ash's call went unanswered.

Ash exchanged a look with Brock, who nodded, before he began the ascent up the stairs to Misty's living quarters.

May moved to follow him but Brock held her back. "We have to split up. Ash will check upstairs, you head to the next room, that's where most of the water Pokemon are kept, and I'll check out the arena where the Gym battles are held. Max, you look around in here. If you find anything, just yell out.

"But…I…er, wouldn't it be better if we stuck together?" May asked sheepishly as she swatted a lock of brown hair from her face.

"It will be quicker if we split up…" Brock started.

"Oh, you're such a wimp, May! Fine, I'll go with you," May's younger sibling said irritably.

Brock shook his head, things were getting serious, there was no time for messing around.

"Okay, okay, you two check in here and then check the Pokemon storage room, alright?"

"Right!" May and Max said in unison.

"Combusken, go!" May released her Pokemon in order to provide light for them.

Brock nodded after the two children, wondering if it really was a good idea to let them go off on their own. There was no telling what was going on in the Cerulean Gym at that moment, but they did have Pokemon with them, hopefully they wouldn't be needed. He shuddered at the thought.

-x-

Ash opened each door slowly, as if afraid that something, or someone, might jump out at him. He could hear a rattling sound as he opened the door to Misty's bedroom. He reached his hand inside, searching for the light switch. When his fingers finally brushed over it, he flicked it a few times: nothing.

He moved forward into darkness, his gaze caught on Misty's video phone. The mouthpiece still hanging off the hook as if it had been dropped suddenly and the screen was filled with roaring black and grey lines which made the room seem even creepier as shadows moved across the walls.

"Misty?" Ash called softly as he looked around, not really expecting a reply. Her room was painted bright blue and she had photos of him and Brock on her desk. He shook his head, now was not the time to be examining Misty's taste in home décor.

He walked back over to the phone. If the power was really out, how come it was still on? He grabbed the mouthpiece and placed it back on the hook where it belonged. A sizzling noise from behind him caught his attention and he spun around quickly. The video phone went blank, leaving him in pitch black darkness.

"Wh- Who's there?" He called, his left fist clenched by his side as he willed himself not to run. His right hand automatically leapt to a Pokeball on his belt, his trainer's instincts powering into motion, just incase.

He could feel the ground beneath his feet begin to shake as a blast of bright purple light suddenly engulfed him. The whole room was swallowed by the intense glow. Ash's eyes burned as they adjusted from the darkness. He began to back away, reaching for the doorknob behind him.

A pure, white light shone from the corner of the room, it seemed to be the source of the purple light. Strange, inhuman sounds echoed from it and a bizarre chanting could be heard.

"Misty?" Ash cried, his voice trembling.

Suddenly black objects sprang from the light. They began to circle him in a crazy sort of ritual dance, chanting in their sing-song voices.

Ash felt his Pokedex go off in his pocket, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene before him. The creatures spun around and around in their crazed dance, keeping Ash rooted to the spot. He lifted his right hand which was clutching a Pokeball, calling on the Pokemon inside for assistance.

Torkoal appeared in a flash of red light and stared stunned at the small black creatures for a few seconds.

They began to chant louder as Ash felt the will to stay conscious leave his body. There must have been at least fifty of them, spinning randomly throughout the room.

"Torkoal!" he managed to utter as his legs gave way and he was left kneeling on the floor.

Ash's pained voice motioned Torkoal into action. Smoke rose from its shell as it powered up for an Overheat attack.

Suddenly each small black Pokemon stopped in mid air and began to glow. Small white balls of energy formed around each one and then all at once they shot towards Torkoal. The beams of pure light stunned the Fire-type, knocking it to the ground in one hit, and still the attacks kept coming.

"Torkoal!" Ash cried as it fainted. A shooting pain flashed through his head as he fell forwards, giving into the strange power that was engulfing him. Soon all he could see was purple light. Bright purple light, almost soothing.

"Misty," he called hoarsely as he drifted out of consciousness. "Misty…" he cried as images of her haunted his troubled dreams.

-x-

Brock was the first one to reach Misty's bedroom. He had heard yelling and a loud bang and had searched every other room on the floor to no avail. The room itself looked fairly untouched, but he was sure this was where he had heard rumbling, and the sound of someone screaming.

"Ash? Misty?" Brock called.

"Tor...koal," Torkoal panted from its resting spot. Next to it, Ash's cap lay discarded.

Brock took another step into the dark.

"What happened?" Brock asked grabbing Ash's cap and Torkoal's Pokeball off the floor near his feet.

Torkoal's eyes drooped as it shook its head; it had failed its trainer.

Brock took another look around the room, his eyes had somewhat adjusted to the dark, but it was still hard to see things clearly.

"Ash? ASH!" Brock yelled.

"What's wrong?" May asked as she and Max arrived in the doorway. "I heard screaming. Is everything okay? Did you find her?"

Pikachu jumped from her arms and ran over to Brock, wondering what the older human was doing with it's master's hat.

"I… Ash is… gone," Brock said, he couldn't think of a better word to describe it. It was like he had just disappeared into thin air.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried, sniffing the air, "Pika, pikachu!" It shook its head, its eyes welling with tears, "Pikapi…"

"Use Ember, Combusken," May's Pokemon shot a small flame into the air, the tepid glow lit up the room to some extent.

"What do you mean Ash is gone?" Max piped up from behind May as he pushed his way through. His gaze rested on the injured Pokemon lying on the floor. "And what happened to Torkoal?"

"I don't know…I just…don't know," Brock said exasperatedly, annoyed at himself for allowing Ash to run off on his own.

"Well, he can't be gone," Max said, "People don't just disappear. Have you searched the whole floor?"

"All of it," Brock replied, "He was here. I found his cap, and Torkoal. There's no way he'd leave Torkoal here in this condition,"

"But that means…" May whimpered, not wanting to think about the reality of the situation. First Misty, and then Ash, anyone of them could be next.

"We have to get out of here," Brock said.

"But, what about Ash!" May cried in distress.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried, shaking its head. There was no way it was leaving without Ash.

"It's too dangerous," Brock said firmly, still looking around the room for some sign of his young friend.

"Pikapi! Pika!" Pikachu cried, tears streaming down its face. It ran over to Torkoal to try to find out what had happened to its beloved trainer.

"Pikachu pika!"

"Torkoal! Tor,"

"Pikapi?"

"Torkoal," Torkoal shook its head weakly.

"Pikapi, pikachu," Pikachu sobbed.

May felt her own eyes become watery as she scooped the despondent Pokemon off the ground.

"We'll find him, Pikachu," She said, her voice trembling.

Brock held Torkoal's Pokeball out at arm's length, allowing the tired Pokemon to return to rest. The flash of red light lit up the room brightly for a few seconds, and he was able to see the looks of shock and fear on his friend's faces.

Brock was getting edgy. He had to get them out of there, now.

"Come on, we'll get Officer Jenny and the RK9 squad to search the Gym. I'm sure Misty and Ash are fine," Brock said, knowing he had to be strong for the younger members of the group.

"How can you say that?" Max cried, "Ash and Misty are both gone! You have no idea what happened!"

Brock shot him a warning look and glanced toward May who was sobbing into Pikachu's fur.

Max shook his head and looked at the floor. "I mean…the RK9 Squad will be able to find them…" he said weakly.

"I'm not stupid you know," May sobbed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, "As much as I don't want to leave Ash, Officer Jenny and a bunch of Arcanine will have a much easier time of finding him and Misty than we will,"

Brock nodded, surprised at her bravery.

"Pikapi….pika…pikachu…" Pikachu muttered over and over again as it was carried out of the Gym by May.

"We'll find him, Pikachu," Brock said, patting the dejected yellow creature on the head, "I promise."

-x-


End file.
